• Students receive recognition for essays on Turkey and EU
    07/01/2005

    Four Czech university students have received recognition for their work in an essay competition on the subject of Turkey and the European Union. Prizes were awarded at the Turkish ambassador's residence in Prague by the Turkish ambassador, Sabri Cenk Duatepe and by euro MP Jan Zahradil. The first prize in the competition went to Petr Preclik, a student of international relations at Brno's Masaryk University, who is said to have addressed questions of identity and cultural shift towards Turkey and the Balkan states.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Social Democrats winning back support, suggests poll
    06/30/2005

    A new opinion poll suggests the governing Social Democrats are slowly winning back support, after hitting a low-point earlier in the year. In a poll by Factum Invenio this month, almost 23 percent of respondents said they would vote Social Democrat. Meanwhile, the right-of-centre Civic Democrats remain ahead in the polls, with 34 percent. Third are the Communists, with just under 20 percent.

    Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said on Thursday he did not want to take polls too seriously, but said he believed the Social Democrats would form the next government. Elections are set for June next year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Kinsky gives up fighting property disputes in Czech courts
    06/30/2005

    Franz Ulrich Kinsky says he wants to take property disputes against the Czech state to the courts in another European Union country, after years of failure in the Czech courts to win back for property confiscated from his aristocratic family after World War II. Mr Kinsky has made over 150 property claims in the Czech Republic. The Czech authorities say his father was a Nazi sympathiser, a suggestion strenuously denied by Mr Kinsky.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Structure of growth in Czech economy changing, says central bank head
    06/30/2005

    The structure of the growth of the Czech economy has changed significantly in the last couple of years, the governor of the Czech National Bank, Zdenek Tuma, said on Thursday. Household consumption has slowed as exports have become the main driving force of growth, he said. Mr Tuma also said the Czech Republic must intensify preparations to adopt the euro - otherwise it will not meet its stated target of joining in 2009 or 2010.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • One in seven drivers asked for bribe by police: poll
    06/30/2005

    One in seven Czech drivers has been asked for a bribe by traffic police, suggests a poll published in Thursday's Mlada fronta Dnes. The poll found that young drivers and the owners of big cars were more likely to be asked for bribes than other motorists.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Schools out for summer
    06/30/2005

    Almost one and a half million school pupils around the Czech Republic began their summer holidays on Thursday afternoon. Their two-month break ends on September 1st. As every year, psychologists have warned of the dangers of parents being excessively critical of their children's end-of-term grades, and help lines for worried kids have been advertised.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Only Czech in basketball's NBA changes club
    06/30/2005

    The only Czech basketball player in the NBA, Jiri Welsch, has changed clubs. Welsch joins Milwaukee from Cleveland, in his fourth transfer since beginning his NBA career in Oakland in 2002.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prescott meets Paroubek and Svoboda in Prague
    06/29/2005

    Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott held talks with the Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek and Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda during a brief visit to Prague on Wednesday. The ailing EU budget for 2007-2013 and the need for a re-evaluation of spending priorities were the main topics of discussion. All three politicians also agreed that the European integration and enlargement processes must continue despite the rejections of the EU constitution by France and the Netherlands. Britain takes over the EU presidency from Luxembourg this Friday.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Lower House passes smoking ban in some public places
    06/29/2005

    The lower house of the Czech Parliament (Chamber of Deputies) passed a law that bans smoking in some public places. If approved by the upper house (Senate) and signed by the president, smoking will be banned in public administration buildings, schools, cinemas, sports halls, and tram and bus stops. However, Christian Democrat deputy Josef Janecek says the law is "a victory for the tobacco lobby" as it fails to introduce a total ban on smoking in theatres, restaurants and bars, and workplaces. These places have the option of installing non-smoking areas if they want to avoid a complete ban. The law also restricts cigarette sales from January 1 next year. Cigarette sales from vending machines are banned and the shops allowed to sell cigarettes will be restricted to mainly tobacco shops and supermarkets.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Lower House approves referendum bill that will most likely be blocked by Civic Democrat Senators
    06/29/2005

    The lower house has also approved a bill enabling referendums to be held on a range of issues including the EU constitution. The bill that amends the constitution states the president must call a referendum if it is requested by the government, a group of at least 80 of the 200 lower house deputies, or 33 of the 88 senators, or by a petition backed by at least 300,000 citizens. The right-of-centre opposition Civic Democrats voted against the bill in the lower house and will most likely block it in the upper house (Senate), where they hold enough seats to reject new constitutional laws and amendments.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

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